TWC Tells Customer To Shove ‘A Pack Of Matches’ Under Broken Router

By consumerist.comAugust 24, 2006

Short version: Mark got high-speed wireless with Time Warner Cable. They gave him a dirty, fidgety router that if you touch the power supply, it resets. When he got a tech to come back, the tech told him to shove a pack of matches and a bottle cap under the router to keep it from moving.

By way of explanation the tech offered, “This is the nature of the beast,” and left.

Long version: inside.

Mark writes:

I recently (Friday, August 18, 2006) had Time Warner Cable install high-speed, wireless internet service in my apartment. After almost one and one half hours of installation, including the technician having to re-run the exterior cabling for the job TWICE, i was left with an old, busted up cable modem/router and poor connectivity, at best.

Now, I had just finished writing a check to the tune of $160 dollars for this service when I got a good look at the hardware they left with me and discovered a used, malfunctioning router. You can see in the pics that their are black smudges and fingerprints on the top and bottom of the router. Also, i found that if you touch the powersupply entering the router, the device will reset itself.

While I was not happy with this hardware, it was functioning properly, for the time being. I got almost three hours of internet service before i started experiencing long periods of no connectivity. I was very unhappy at this point. So the first thing I do, like any other consumer, is to contact my customer service representative at Time Warner Cable. While I cant complain of my experiences with the support team, I also cannot praise them. I got no apologies or explanations for the faulty product and poor service i received. I did, however get an appointment for a service technician to visit my apartment the following Monday, August 21.

That day came, and the man arrived, only to find, at my amazement, that I was getting a good signal good connectivity. I then brought this gentleman to the hardware and showed him the problem with the powersupply. Unbelievably, this supposedly trained technician advised me to put a pack of matches and a bottlecap underneath the powersupply to keep it from moving, leaving me speechless. He then explained that “this is the nature of the beast” (wtf does that mean?) and promptly left my place.

Now, I wont pretend to be very well versed in modern computer technology, but I know a faulty product when i see it. I paid alot of money to have this hardware and service installed, and the product is poor. Unfortunately for me, Time Warner Cable holds a monopoly on high-speed internet service in my area. They are the only providers of broadband service, so currently, I am stuck with their services. I have made three phone since the “matches” incident, and have another service appointment scheduled for Thursday, August 24 to remove the mentioned router and replace it with an “updated” piece. I will continue to subscribe to Time Warner Cable as long as they are without competition in my area.